Statin use and fracture risk: study of a US veterans population

Whether statins reduce the risk of fractures is still contested. Several studies support a favorable association, whereas post hoc analyses of statin-randomized trials have failed to find a benefit. We sought to assess this possible relationship in a large population of elderly, predominantly male veterans.

We established the study population using all health care encounters and services from patients who received care in the New England Veterans Affairs health care system between January 1998 and June 2001. According to evidence from the literature, covariates that would affect the risk of fractures were included in the final model, as were medications that were clinically meaningful and significant in univariate models and the Charlson Comorbidity Index as a surrogate for general health. We also conducted a similar analysis among new statin users. We used pooled logistic regression to assess for significant associations.

Of the 91 052 patients in the final cohort, 28 063 were prescribed statins and 2195 were prescribed nonstatin lipid-lowering medications. In the adjusted analyses, statin use was associated with a 36% (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-0.72) reduction in fracture risk when compared with no lipid-lowering therapy and a 32% (odds ratio, 0.67; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.91) reduction when compared with nonstatin lipid-lowering therapy. Similar findings were found for the new statin user group.

We have provided yet another study in a unique population of mostly male veterans that found a significant reduction in fractures among statin users. More studies need to be performed to confirm or refute our findings.